


Death has a certain fragrance, fear has a bitter taste (can we rise above, escape this; there must be another way)

by MYuzuki



Series: No matter what’s in front of me (I’ll keep fighting til I’ve won) [30]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Family Reunions, Gen, I mean I think this technically counts as a family reunion right? lol, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Screw Destiny, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:07:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26562637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYuzuki/pseuds/MYuzuki
Summary: Somehow, they manage to make it to Insomnia without anyone getting stabbed, which Nyx thinks could probably be considered a minor miracle.
Relationships: Ardyn Izunia & Nyx Ulric, Ardyn Izunia & Regis Lucis Caelum
Series: No matter what’s in front of me (I’ll keep fighting til I’ve won) [30]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1897525
Comments: 15
Kudos: 135





	Death has a certain fragrance, fear has a bitter taste (can we rise above, escape this; there must be another way)

**Death has a certain fragrance, fear has a bitter taste (can we rise above, escape this; there must be another way)**

* * *

Somehow, they manage to make it to Insomnia without anyone getting stabbed, which Nyx thinks could probably be considered a minor miracle.

That being said, it's possibly the most tense return trip of his entire life (hell, _both_ of his lives) because he spends the entirety of it waiting to get stabbed in the back by a vengeful royal who's halfway to insane.

But then they reach Hammerhead and the Crownsguard escort he'd requested is there just as Cor had promised (complete with cars and transport vans and everything, and Nyx makes a mental note to take Cor somewhere nice for dinner to thank him), and even though Ardyn just seems amused by the added security Nyx breathes a little easier knowing that he's got more people backing him up in case the former High Chancellor decides he doesn't want to play along with Nyx's plan for circumventing destiny.

(Not that Ardyn knows that it's _Nyx's_ plan, specifically; the bastard had poked and prodded and needled him with pointed questions the entire journey, but Nyx had offered up the same generic responses time and time again because he's not about to tell _Ardyn fucking Izunia_ of all people the truth.

So Ardyn knows that there is A Plan, but he doesn't know what that plan is or how Nyx himself had been instrumental in coming up with it.

Nyx is honestly content to leave things that way for as long as possible, because Ardyn's already looking at him like he's a fascinating puzzle and he doesn't want to do anything to amplify the already substantial creepiness factor.

…He's really not looking forward to the bastard finding out about the Lucian magic he's got coursing through his body, but he carefully files that worry away to be dealt with later; he's got plenty of more urgent things to worry about now, after all. Like whether or not Ardyn is just going along with all of this so he has a direct shot at killing Regis in person.)

Finally, _finally_ , their motorcade pulls up to the Citadel. From there, it's a short trek to the throne room where Regis is waiting for them, the king flanked by Clarus on one side and Cor on the other.

Nyx's two teams of Glaives quietly but confidently move to positions around the perimeter of the room along with the Crownsguard operatives, and Nyx makes a mental note to add bonuses to all their paychecks for going above and beyond the call of duty by dealing so admirably with the extra bullshit he'd unintentionally heaped upon them with this whole fiasco.

"Such a warm reception," Ardyn remarks sarcastically, sharply amused as he surveys all the tense and wary faces in the room. "Truly, I feel so _heartily_ welcomed."

Nyx manages to (with a considerable effort of will) restrain the urge to kick him in the shin.

Regis, meanwhile, gives a sharp smile of his own, and tips his head in acknowledgment of Ardyn's verbal jab. "My apologies for the excessive number of guards present for your visit," he says, tone dry, "but given the circumstances I'm sure you can understand my concerns."

Ardyn feigns ignorance, adopting a politely clueless expression. "Circumstances, Your Majesty?"

"Don't play coy," Clarus snaps, interjecting before Regis can respond. "We know who you are, Ardyn Izunia. And who you were. Ardyn _Lucis Caelum_."

"Yes, so you mentioned in your letter," Ardyn replies, tone almost casually disinterested despite the sharpness of his gaze. "And yet I cannot help but wonder _why_ you have dared to invite me here, knowing that. After all, I've made my animosity for the Kingdom of Lucis quite clear, have I not? So why go to all the trouble of bringing me here? To _save_ me? Me, an enemy of your kingdom?" He gives a laugh that grates against Nyx's nerves, cold and mirthless and tinged with a dangerous sort of bitterness. "You'll excuse me if I find the very idea of it ludicrous in the extreme."

"It is a strange situation, to be sure," Regis admits, tone careful. "But this is your kingdom, too, is it not? There is no need for us to be enemies, not when there is another path forward for all of us."

"There is _every_ need," Ardyn hisses, and Nyx tenses instinctively at the threat in his voice, lightning crackling at his fingertips before he even consciously realizes that he's pulling on his magic.

"If I have to stab you _now_ after dragging your sorry ass all the way here from Cleigne," he interjects, hoping to draw the Chancellor's attention to himself before the situation escalates into open violence, "I am going to be pissed. At least listen to the damn plan first!"

A startled sort of silence hovers in the air, as Ardyn and Regis slant him matching looks of incredulity in response to the interruption (Cor, for his part, just looks vaguely long-suffering, like he's long since given up on Nyx displaying any sort of survival instinct, while Clarus is wearing his very best poker face).

"...What exactly," Ardyn says at last, after he spends an indeterminable amount of time looking back and forth between Nyx and Regis like he's trying to figure out a complex equation and coming up a few variables short of an answer, " _is_ your plan?"

They tell him.

Ardyn listens patiently, then spends the better part of the five minutes after that laughing hysterically, to the point that some of the Crownsguard operatives and Glaives stationed around the perimeter of room start to look nervous.

(Nyx just rolls his eyes because _Lucians_ , honestly. If he ever meets one that isn't excessively melodramatic he'll eat his hood.)

"An excellent plan," Ardyn says eventually, once he's managed to wrestle his emotions back under control. "And if the other Lucii are indeed offering their support, it might even work. Bahamut, however," he adds, a nasty smirk curving his lips up at the corners, "will _hate_ it."

"And is that a deterrent for you?" Regis asks, expression stoic but with a hint of trepidation shadowing his features.

"Oh, on the contrary," Ardyn says, darkly amused. "Consider me fully on-board with this plan. When shall we begin?"

**Author's Note:**

> So, I hope you all liked that. ;D
> 
> For a little bit of background/insight into my writing process for this drabble, I was struggling with writing Ardyn and trying to figure out what *real* reason I could give for him to actually go along with Nyx's plan beyond the whole "we can purge you of the Starscourge and turn you human again" angle (because let's be honest, he may or may not find that sufficient motivation to give up his revenge quest) and then I realized that because Ardyn is Ardyn, doing it solely to spite Bahamut would absolutely be 100% in-character for him. And it is, in my honest opinion, a totally valid motivation given the circumstances. ;P (Which is not to say that he's not doing it for other reasons as well! He has other reasons, too, but spite is also absolutely a factor, lol).


End file.
